Patience and Perpetua
by Snaily
Summary: There are two mysterious girls who enter Hogwarts in Harry Potter's third year. Their last name is Black. Or is it? Who are these girls, what is their special gift, and how will they affect Harry Potter and his fight against Lord Voldemort?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1:**

"Girls! Get up! Get up this instant!" A sharp voice pierced the landing and echoed in our tiny room. My eyes opened and moaned. I ran my hand through my white-blond hair, my fingers refusing to catch in any snags; my hair never tangled. My glanced over at the bed next to me, where my twin sister slept. She groaned and rolled over.

"Patience, you know Mother won't be pleased if we don't get downstairs soon," I said to her. She turned over and stared at me, and then nodded. We both slipped out of bed and pulled on clothes as quickly as we could. I put on a white shirt, gray sweater vest, and black pants. Patience put on a plaid jumper with a white shirt and stockings. I pulled a comb through my hair that fell halfway down my back, and then passed it to Patience. 

Our hair was the only thing people could use to tell us apart. Whereas mine was blond and not so long, Patience had hair that was like a curtain of sheer black darkness cascading down her back. It fell completely to her waist.

We jogged down several flights of stairs before racing into the drawing room, coming to a halt at the entrance. My sister and I stood at attention as if in the military, and out parents looked up.

"Where have you two been?" demanded my father. I tensed and apologized.

"I'm sorry, Father, it won't happen again." I had half a mind to talk back to him, but surely he would curse me if I dared.

"I don't think either of you shall receive supper tonight," he sneered. "Your brother is heading off to school, and this is the respect you pay him?" I groaned inwardly. Patience and I were already thin enough, we didn't need starving! And I didn't care a wit about my brother.

"Now, now Lucius, at least let them eat," said my mother. "I'll deal with them once you leave."

My father nodded and turned to my brother.

"We ought to be going now, Draco," he said. "Your things are already in the car. Off you go." He stood, picked up his cane, and strode out of the room. My brother, who was starting his third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, made a point of bumping me rather hard on the shoulder as he left. Just before he reached the door, he turned.

"See you next summer, Perp," he said to me.

"It's Perpetua!" I called after him as he left. I absolutely hated it when he called me Perp. I preferred to be called Perry. The large door closed and as soon as it did, Mother turned on us.

"Go get your things," she said, the corner of her lip twitching.

We had been forbidden to tell Draco that we too were going to Hogwarts this year. We would be starting our first year. Mother had had us pack our trunks the night before, and she had already bought our things. Ten minutes later, Patience and I were tramping down the stairs, towing our trunks behind us. Just as I reached the bottom, the trunk nicked my heel, and I came stumbling forward.

I fell into my mother, and my hand clenched her wrist for support. And then I Saw.

_A solid brick wall melted away and a train platform materialized in front of it. There was a train engine there, scarlet in color. It read,_ The Hogwarts Express.

I shuddered as everything came back into focus. I quickly let go of my mother, but she grabbed my sleeve.

"Where are your gloves?" she demanded. 

"I-I forgot to put them on," I said.

"You'd better not forget while you are at school. You are to let no one know of you disorder. Either of you." Mother stared venomously at first me, and then Patience. I nodded.

Patience and I were both psychometrics. No, we're not crazy. Whenever our hands touch somebody or something, we can see things. I see the future, and Patience can see the past. It is the hardest thing to deal with. We have to avoid touching things all the time, unless we wear our gloves. Patience wore hers constantly, even while she slept. I sometimes neglected to put mine on. The future wasn't always as bleak as the past.

Growing up in the Malfoy Manor in particular was difficult for Patience. There are so many Dark Artifacts in this place that she has to be careful.

Mother left to check some things in another room, and then Patience spoke.

"You know it's downright creepy when you do that," she said, staring at me.

"Sorry," I said. Whenever I Saw, my eyes shrunk so that all that was visible was the whites of my eyes. "I'm in the habit of closing my eyes, but that one took me by surprise. But you should see yourself when you See." Patience was even weirder. Her pupils expanded so her eyes turned totally black. But Patience generally stood out from the family anyway. We all had blond hair and ice-blue eyes. The eye color and pale skin were the only things she shared. Her black hair alone wasn't normal, and she had dark eyebrows and eyelashes.

"Alright, we're ready to go," said my mother, coming back into the entrance hall. "Oh, there's one more thing you have to know.

"No one can know that you are Malfoys. We wouldn't want to embarrass the family. So, I've changed your names for while you are at school. Patience, you will be Adrienne Black, and Perpetua, you will be Paris Black. No questions. Got it?"

We both nodded, and soon we were out the door, in the car, and one our way to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.


	2. Chapter 2

**I know, I forgot to put a disclaimer on the first chapter. **

**I do not own Harry Potter or anything related to it. But I wish I did. I do own Patience and Perpetua, though, I made them up. :P**

**Enjoy!!  **

Chapter 2:

Once Patience and I stepped out of our house for the first time in who-knows-how-long, time seemed to speed up. But the last time I checked, I didn't have that power. So it must have been my anxiousness. Before I knew it, we were striding behind my mother at five minutes to eleven, and we suddenly stopped in front of a pillar between platforms nine and ten. She stopped us.

"I leave you here," Mother said. She shoved two pieces of paper into my hand. "Just walk straight through that pillar, and don't stop. Get on the train as fast as you can, and if you father is still there, avoid him at all costs." Mother took a deep breath.

I looked at Patience, slightly confused. Then I turned to Mom. If she was leaving us, I wouldn't be seeing her until next summer. But she was already turning around and disappeared into the crowd of Muggles before I opened my mouth. Patience and I glanced at each other. 

"Walk through the pillar?" I asked her. Then I had an idea. "What if you touched the pillar, maybe that could give us instructions." Patience glared at me.

"Perry! Who knows what I could see?" she said. She seemed very reluctant to do it.

"If you don't, then I'll tell you exactly who your first kiss is going to be!" I threatened. My sister's eyes widened and she gasped. Of course, I had no idea who the lucky guy was gonna be yet, but it was the perfect threat.

"Okay, okay!" She took her left thumb and forefinger and pulled off her right glove. She closed her eyes and touched the pillar. But two seconds later she pulled back and yelled in surprise. Her hand had gone right through the pillar.

"Alright, Mum was telling the truth then," I said, my eyes widening too. So I walked back a couple of steps, aligned my trolley, and strode forward. I had closed my eyes out of nervousness, but when I opened them, I saw Platform 9 3/4 greeting me. The front of Patience's cart hit me in the back, snapping me out of my amazed reverie.

"Ouch!" I said, rubbing my backside.

"You should have seen it coming!" teased Patience.

"Ha ha!" I said. WE hurried and loaded our baggage onto the train, taking only our small bags with us. We stepped up onto the train, but were stopped by the conductor.

"Tickets?" he asked. His hand was outstretched expectantly. I dug in my coat pocket and handed him the two slips of paper Mother had given me earlier. They had turned out to be our train tickets. The conductor grinned and ushered us in, and we were left to find a compartment on our own. It wasn't hard. WE soon found an empty one that we could have all to ourselves.

"I'm so excited, Per- I mean, Paris! We're going to Hogwarts!" Patience said to me, settling into the scarlet seat cushion.

"I know! Hey, let's check out our wands," I said. We'd never actually gotten a good look at them. Mom had taken us into Diagon Alley just long enough to get our wands, and she had snatched them away as soon as we walked out of Ollivander's.

"Yeah, okay." Patience pulled hers out of her pocket, and I did too. 

"Okay, I want to remember exactly what Ollivander said about it. Can you help me out?" I asked Patience.

"Sure, I guess. They're brand new, no memories. Unless I get the memories of the core!" she laughed a little at this.

She reached out her once again ungloved hand and touched my wand. She had her eyes closed; she knew it freaked me out when she was seeing the past. 

She leaned back, opened her eyes, and said, "16 1/2 inches, light maple wood, unicorn tail hair core. Whippy and flexible, good for Charms."

"Cool! I bet learning Charms will be awesome."

"Yeah," Patience touched her own wand and looked up again after a moment, "Mine's 15 inches, dark cherry wood, and dragon heart string core. Thick and snappy, good for Transfiguration. That is so cool."

Suddenly our compartment door opened. Three people stood in the doorway. Two were boys, and one was a girl with bushy brown hair. One boy had flaming red hair, and the other a messy, black hair. The black haired boy had a lightning shaped scar on his forehead, easily visible through his bangs.

"Sorry," he said, noticing Patience's scramble to put her glove back on. "We'll get somewhere else." With that he shut the door and I saw their shadows passing the door.

"Perry!" Patience cried. "Do you know who that was?"

"Who?"

"The boy with the scar! He was Harry Potter!"

"So?" I asked, totally confused.

"He was the downfall of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named! He's like, famous!"

"Cool," I said, shifting my position in my seat.

"You don't get it, Perry. We can't get anywhere near him. At least me. I'd see some pretty terrifying things. And who knows what's' in his future? We'd better avoid him!"

"Okay, stay away from Potter. Got it," I said. I didn't see what Patience was making such a big deal about. But she was usually best at deciding who was and was not safe. SO I trusted her. I dug into my bag and pulled out the Daily Prophet and settled down as Patience fell into one of her thoughtful bouts of silence.


	3. Chapter 3

**So do you gys like it so far? Thanks for the couple of replies I have gotten. It's gonna get better, though, I promise. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, I'd live in Scotland and be richer than the Queen of England. But I'm not. That's J. K. Rowling.**

Chapter 3:

Not long after, the train began to slow down. I looked out of the window, and became confused. I didn't see a school anywhere! And suddenly it got cold. Very cold.

Someone was getting on the train, I could feel it. Patience looked at me, wide-eyed, and I stared back. Patience's skin was paler than usual, making it white as snow. It was actually quite frightening.

But not as frightening as what was approaching.

I heard movement along the corridor, and just outside our door, a shadow stopped. My heart was beating rapidly, unsure of what was going on. The thing started to open the door.

I heard Patience scream.

It was a dementor, one of those horrible things I'd heard my father talking about. But just as soon as I thought about that, I started seeing things. But not what I was used to seeing, no, I was seeing my own past. I saw myself hugging Patience as my father towered over us, his wand out.

"No, no..." I moaned. But as soon as the memory had come, it went. I was back in the train, breathing heavily, and the dementor was gone. I looked over at Patience and screamed she was collapsed in her seat, unconscious. I stood up and shook her, but she wouldn't' wake up.

I dashed out into the hallway, and called for help. I looked to my right and saw an adult wizard coming toward me.

"Please! Help! MY sister, she's..." I said. But before I could finish my sentence the man was entering the compartment.

"What's her name?" he asked me. I noticed he looked rather shabby, but at the moment I didn't care.

"Pa - I mean, Adrienne," I said.

"And yours?" he asked.

"Paris. Paris Black."

Something flickered in the man's eyes, but he was soon paying attention to Patience again.

"Adrienne, wake up," he said, prodding her. That didn't work. "Enervate," the man said.

My sister's eyes fluttered open, and when she saw me, she grasped me and began crying into my shoulder.

"It's okay," I said, rubbing her back. I still avoided saying her name. Once she and cried herself out, she sat up and cleared her eyes.

"Th-thank you," she said to the man.

"You're welcome," he said. "Here, have some chocolate, trust me, it will help."

Patience took the chocolate gratefully and ate it. A little color flushed back into her face.

"You are sisters, correct?" the man asked me, handing me chocolate.

"Yes, twins," I said. I ate the chocolate and then asked him, "What is your name?"

"I am Remus Lupin, I am your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," he said.

"Thanks, Professor Lupin," I said.

"I need to go talk to the conductor. I'll see you at school," he said, smiling at me. I smiled back and he left Patience and I alone.

"What happened, Pat?" I asked. She looked at me and shuddered.

"It made me see all the worst memories I'd ever Seen before, even if they weren't mine," she replied. I felt my face soften in sympathy.

"What did you see?" she asked.

"One of Dad's tempers," I said, noncommittally. I had to be brave for her. She smiled.

"I sure hope Hogwarts is better than this, Perry," she sighed, relaxing in her seat.

I looked out the window again.

"Me too, Pat. Me too."


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry, I don't own Harry Potter…**

**Before you read anymore, I want you to try to guess what house they will be in. Of course, you could just read and find out...**

Chapter 4:

Patience and I spent the rest of the trip speculating about Hogwarts, avoiding the topic of conversation that was on both our minds. What was it that Patience had seen? She had seen plenty of horrible things in the past. Until she had learned to wear her gloves always, she had touched many of the artifacts in our house and seen terrible things. But what had been so horrible that it had made her pass out? After a while, I decided I didn't want to know. Patience would tell me if she wanted to.

A while later, the train ground to a stop. I looked out the window in eagerness, but it was so dark I might as well have not even bothered. We disembarked from the train and onto the platform.

"What about our luggage?" asked Patience, looking round.

"Don't worry, they'll be delivered up to the castle," said a tall, red-haired boy next to us. Patience looked at him skeptically. "You can trust me, I'm Head Boy," he said, slightly affronted. I looked down, amused at his pompous attitude.

"Firs' years! Firs' years this way!"

I looked toward the loud voice and had no trouble finding the source. A huge man twice the size of my father was waving hands the size of dustbin lids, beckoning first years toward him.

"Who is he, Adrienne?" I asked Patience, aware that other people were around.

"That's Rubeus Hagrid, the gamekeeper. I've heard our brother talking about him at home," Patience replied, evidently catching on and not slipping Draco's name.

"The Great Oaf he always complained about?"

"Hey!" demanded an angry voice behind me. I whirled around and saw Harry Potter glowering at me.

"My brother's words, not mine," I said in my defense, holding my hands up in surrender. He seemed satisfied with that and strode off with his two friends.

"Whew, he was a bit sensitive," I said, turning to Patience. She was tugging on her gloves nervously. I ignored her. I would give her a lesson on developing social skills later.

We walked off to Hagrid, who led us to a group of boats. Everyone else was getting in, so we followed their lead and chose a boat. Patience and I would up in a boat with another girl who seemed too petrified to say anything.

We crossed the Black Lake (as Draco had mentioned it was called) and we were walking up the steps to the stone castle in no time.

At the top of the staircase we stopped in the midst of students and caught a glimpse of a strict looking teacher.

"Good evening!" she said. "My name is Professor McGonagall. When you enter this hall, you will be sorted into one of the four houses. These houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. While you are here your house will be like your family. For any good deeds or actions, you will earn points. Any trouble making, and you will lose them."

With that she led us into the hall, where hundreds of faces at four tables turned to look at us. Patience turned a light shade of green. I noticed a familiar face looking from the Slytherin table and immediately turned to look at the other side of the hall. Up ahead of us, Professor McGonagall was holding up a dirty old hat in one hand and a scroll in the other.

She began reading off the list. Patience leaned over and whispered to me.

"I'm thankful "M" is way down!"

But she received a surprise that both of us had temporarily forgotten.

"Black, Adrienne." Patience looked at me, alarmed, and I pushed her forward. She made her way through the crowd. Was it just me, or had people started whispering when Professor McGonagall had called her name? They couldn't possibly recognize her! She didn't look anything like Draco! That was me. I chanced a glance over at the Slytherin table. Draco was talking with a friend behind him, his back to the hat. I sighed in relief.

"RAVENCLAW!" screamed the hat. I was startled, and Patience looked like she was about to faint. I had thought for sure she would be in Slytherin, even though I had hoped beyond hopes that she wouldn't be. I couldn't tell what house the hat would put me in, though. I silently begged it would also be Ravenclaw, just so I could be with Patience.

"Black, Paris!" More whispers. This was very odd. I walked up and sat on the stool. McGonagall placed the hat on my head.

_"Hmm, a Malfoy! I ought to place you in Slytherin...you are clever...but you're too innocent. You show signs of bravery...and you are very loyal. My goodness you are tricky...You know things and are witty and clever...I'll put you in..."_

"RAVENCLAW!"

I heart leaped to my throat and the Ravenclaw table broke into applause. I strode over and sat next to my sister.

A girl across from me leaned across the table and held out her hand. "Hi, I'm Adelaide Beaker. Call me Addie. You're Paris Black, right?" 

"Yeah," I said, taking her hand.

"You don't' mind me asking, but are you related to Sirius Black?"

"Who?"

"Oh! He's an escaped prisoner of Azkaban...he's the big news right now. That's why everyone was so excited when McGonagall called your name. But when I think about it, Black must be a pretty common name."

I nodded, unsure what to say to this. I looked at Patience next to me, who was still green.

"This is my twin sister Pa- I mean, Adrienne," I said to Addie. She smiled and held out her hand to Patience. Patience just stared at it.

"Sorry, she's really shy. I need to teach her some social skills," I said, explaining Patience's odd behavior. Addie accepted this excuse and withdrew her hand.

So we did it. We're at Hogwarts, and we're in Ravenclaw, which will make it all the easier to avoid Draco. And Harry Potter.


	5. Chapter 5

**If you guessed Ravenclaw, you were right! Of course, you already know that…**

**Don't own Harry Potter. If I did, Dumbledore would be alive and Snape wouldn't be.**

**I put a special surprise in the chapter, I hope you like it!**

Chapter 5

The rest of the night passed in a blur. I registered Dumbledore's speech okay, but I practically fell asleep in my pudding. After the ceremony was over, a tall girl stood up and motioned to all of us.

"Okay, everyone, follow me! Come quickly, please!" Her blonde curls bobbed as she turned and strode up the aisle between our table and the Hufflepuff table. Well, she strode as best she could with the crowd of Hufflepuffs standing up.

"Who's that?" I asked Adelaide.

"That's Penelope Clearwater. She's Head Girl," she replied.

The surge of students around us began to move forward, so I grasped Patience's hand and pulled her along behind me. She was still oddly quiet. I shook my head. She was impossible sometimes.

Penelope Clearwater led us out into the entrance hall, from which we climbed up the marble stair case with the Gryffindors. Amidst the crowd I saw several bright red heads bobbing up and down. Must be the Weasleys, Draco talked about them a lot. He never had anything particularly nice to say about them, either. The boy leading the entire crowd was the boy who had told me about my luggage on the platform.

We reached the first floor landing and Penelope Clearwater waved at the other boy as he led the Gryffindors up more stairs. He waved back.

"Percy Weasley, he's Head Boy. My sister told me they were going out," Addie mumbled to me. It was good to have a friend who was in the know. It made my life much easier.

While the Gryffindors headed up more stairs, Penelope led us to the left. A few minutes and an exhausting climb up several staircases later, we reached the West Tower. Penelope stood in front of a large portrait of a portly gentleman, who, when addressed, turned his head and stared at us.

"Password?" he asked.

"Pocket watch." said Penelope. The Portly Gentleman nodded and swung forward. Penelope climbed in and we all followed.

I was amazed when we walked in. There was a large common room filled with plushy blue armchairs. There was a roaring fire in the grate, and there were several tables around. A royal blue rug adorned the floor, and there were several moving portraits all around the walls. It was so welcoming! There was no comparison to the dark, dank manor that I had once called home. I heard Patience utter a tiny "Oh."

Penelope gave us instructions to the girl's dormitory, and we traipsed up the stairs. Addie, Patience and I walked in with three other girls. Around the circular room were six four poster beds with blue curtains. There were dressers both at the foot of the beds and at the sides. I quickly spotted my luggage across the room and rushed over to the bed.

After I had changed and gotten comfortable, I decided to learn the names of the other girls in my dormitory. There was a girl with curly brown hair who said her name was Felicia King. Another was named Jennifer (Jen) Locke, and she had dirty-blonde hair that fell limply to her shoulders. And the last, Lesley Hermann, had tan skin and dark hair.

"How can you guys be twins?" asked Lesley when we'd all been introduced. "You don't look anything alike.

"Pa - Adrienne got it from my mom's side of the family," I said, swallowing my mistake.

"Yeah, I was always considered a weirdo by...some," she said, and I knew she meant Draco. Patience had started talking when the pressure of the Great Hall had lifted.

"Well, tomorrow we start classes, so I can't wait for that," said Addie, climbing into her bed. The rest of us followed suite. I sighed as I pulled the warm bedspread up to my chin. This was so much better than anything I'd ever known at home.


	6. Chapter 6

**Don't own Harry Potter. **

Chapter 6

When I woke up the next morning, it took a moment for me to remember where I was. And then all the events of last night came rushing back. You'd think that since I can see the past, I'd have a really good memory, but it's not true. Maybe it's from shoving most the memories I see to the back of my head. Who knows?

I rolled over in my bed and looked at the back of Perpetua's head. For once I was awake before her! That never happened. But I was starting to get hungry, and I didn't want to go downstairs without her. 

"Perry!" I whispered. "Perry!" I was lucky that I could still use that nickname with her, whereas she had to call me "Adrienne" all the time. I would have liked to be called Addie, but that name was already taken.

I looked around the room, and when I realized that the rest of our room mates were already gone, I raised my voice. "Perpetua Malfoy!"

Perry started and groaned. She knew exactly who it was that had woken her. 

"Adrienne!" she said, rolling over to face me. 

"It's okay, Perry, no one else is here," I told her. She shrugged and sat up. I copied her.

"We might as well get into the habit," she said. She pushed the covers off of herself and stood up. Her white nightgown fell to the floor, making her look positively ghostlike.

"Yeah, good point," I said. I stared at her as she slipped her gloves on.

"You didn't wear them to bed?" I asked. She knew what I was talking about.

"No. I didn't. But come on, it's a bed, the only thing I saw was that a girl named Kindle Jones is going to sleep here next year. What's so harmful about that?"

I sighed exasperatedly and shook my head. She just didn't get it. "Let's go to breakfast," I said, not even bothering to fight my case. We both slipped into clothes ans headed down through the common room. The portrait of the Portly Gentleman automatically swung open for us. 

We walked into the Great Hall not much later and found Addie at the Ravenclaw table. She waved us over. We sat next to her and began to eat. It was certainly one of the best breakfasts I'd ever had.

"Hello," said a dreamy voice behind us. I turned. A girl older than us with blond hair and her wand stuck behind her ear stood behind me.

"Hi," I said warily.

"I'm Luna Lovegood. Are you done with the jam?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm Adrienne Black," I replied, handing her the tub of jam.

"Yes, I know. You were Sorted last night. Nice gloves," said Luna. Then she walked away. I gave Perpetua a look and she just shrugged, as puzzled as me. Then she turned back to continue her conversation with Addie.

Out first lesson of the day was Charms. I was really, really excited about it. Finally I was allowed to do magic that I could actually control! We all sat around the classroom, and tiny Professor Flitwick stood up.

"Good morning class," he squeaked cheerfully.

"Good morning, Professor Flitwick," we all said. Perry was grinning ear to ear.

"Charms is a very vast area of magic..." Professor Flitwick began. I soaked in every word he said. I was eager to learn. "...The first spell we will learn is the Levitating Spell. I don't expect you to get it on the first try, but you must remember the wand movement. Swish, and flick. Here are the words. _Wingardium Leviosa_."

I pointed my wand at my feather and did the wand movement, and then I said the incantation. Nothing happened. I frowned. Next, I tried the words first, and then the wand motion. I growled in frustration. Perry leaned over and whispered in my ear.

"Patience, Patience!" She chuckled at her own use of words. Then, louder, she said, "Maybe you should try doing both at once. Like this. Wigardum Levosa!"

I laughed at the look on her face when nothing happened. But I said, "I think you're right. Just make sure to say the words right."

I waved my wand and said the incantation. And to my amazement, my feather floated above my desk. "Professor Flitwick! I've done it!" I screeched. 

"Oh yes, good job, good job Miss Black!" he said, clapping his stubby hands. Relief flooded my system. Perry just stared at me, wide-eyed.

88

Before I knew it, we were in the Entrance Hall heading to lunch. We reached the top of the stairs when...

"Hey!"

I turned around and gasped.

"Perry," he found us!" I cried. 

"Adri, we can't hide forever. Just leave it to me."

She turned to Draco, who was striding toward us with two goons, supposedly Crabbe and Goyle, behind him.

"What are you doing here, Perp?" he demanded of my sister.

"Sorry, my name is Paris, I think you have the wrong girl," said Perpetua coolly.

"Yeah, sure I do! Mother sent you here, I know she did!"

"I'm sorry, do we know you?" Perry continued.

Draco sneered. "You better write home to Mother right now and tell her to remove you."

"But we like it here!" I said, joining the fun.

"Besides," Perry added in a whisper, "It's better than having to put up with your spoiled, sniveling face back at home."

I let out a shout of laughter. But then there was a flash of light and I was on the ground, my legs wobbling around, out of my control. I looked up to see Perry ready to punch him.

"Perry!" I cried, trying to get her attention. I didn't want her to get in more trouble, and my legs were starting to hurt.

"Shove off, Malfoy!" she said. Then she knelt next to me. she looked around desperately. She didn't know the countercurse any more than I did.

I saw a girl with bushy brown hair rushing toward us. "Oh! That Malfoy is such a prat!" she exclaimed. "Here," she said. She preformed the counter-jinx on my legs and they stopped moving instantly. I massaged my thighs; I still felt like I had ants crawling up and down them.

"Thanks," I said gratefully.

"No problem," said the girl. "I'm Hermione Granger, I'm in Gryffindor."

"Adrienne Black, Ravenclaw. This is my sister Paris." We shook hands and then she helped me up, Perry's arm under my elbow.

"Honestly, I wish someone would just catch him at it eventually!" said Hermione.

"I know, we say that all the time," I said. Hermione gave me a look.

"has he jinxed you before?"

The answer was yes, but I couldn't say that. "Uh, no! Not him, but other people."

Hermione shrugged and dusted off her robes. "Well, it was nice meeting you! I'll probably see you around then?"

"Yeah," I said, nodding. I waved as she rushed off.

Wow. what a first day of Hogwarts.


End file.
